Hitting the casino can be an incredible experience. While betting, you experience the excitement of a win and the disappointment of a loss, all while surrounded by other people. People near you might be competing against you in a game like poker or they might benefit from your luck and place bets that you can help them win in games like crap.
Regardless of which games you enjoy at the casino, you may find that the cash you brought along isn’t enough. Gamblers will often find that casinos are eager to extend them credit. What they don’t always consider before accepting and using that credit is what happens if they don’t pay it back.
How casino markers can set people up for financial problems
When a casino initially extends a marker to you, they will perform a background check and validate that you have enough liquid capital in the bank to repay the marker.
However, that review is usually only done when a casino first extends a casino marker to someone. That gambler might keep that line of credit open for years. In time, the casino might even increase the limit as someone continues to gamble and repay what they borrow.
The risk is that eventually you will no longer have the assets to repay your casino marker if a trip to the casino results in nothing but losses. You could wind up owing thousands of dollars to a casino with no assets to cover that debt.
Casinos will take legal action against those who don’t repay them
When you don’t make good on your obligations to a casino, you can expect that they will make every possible attempt to collect from you. They could even press criminal charges against you for failing to pay.
Nevada has laws specifically about defaulting on casino markers. The bigger the amount of credit that goes unpaid, the more serious the consequences. Casinos can typically try to withdraw payment after you go more than 30 days without paying the marker off. If they can’t withdraw the amount you owe, they will send you a certified letter to repay them. If you fail to do so, they might then charge you with a criminal offense, which could be a felony if you owe $1,200 or more.
